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Casca
(1997 Anime & PS2 game) |english voice= (Anime/Movies) BJ Ward (PS2 Game) |gender= Female |hair= Black |status= Alive |affiliation= Guts' Travelling Party |previous affiliation= Band of the Hawk |occupation= |previous occupation= Unit Commander of the Band of the Hawk Mercenary |image gallery= yes |eyes = Brown |relatives = Guts (former lover) Demon Child (son)|species = Human}} is the female protagonist of the series, and was the only female member in the Band of the Hawk. Appearance Casca is introduced as a beautiful, short-heighted, slender woman with dark skin, brown eyes and short black hair. She normally wore armor and appeared boyish at first glimpse. After the eclipse and as of the Convinction arc, besides the Brand of Sacrifice on the left side of her chest, Casca now has shoulder length hair and wears brown robes. Following the events of the Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc, Casca gained a Silver Surcoat that she wears under her robes. Personality Before the Eclipse, Casca was a stoic and hardened woman who was immensely loyal to Griffith. Such was her dedication that it was no secret that she would willingly give her own life for him. But Casca's cold demeanor masked her own inner personal demons as a result of her traumatic childhood and the challenges she faced because of her womanhood. Casca was very guarded (with good reason) and was shy and embarrassed easily whether it be wearing a dress (though Guts thought she looked beautiful) or having her period during a battle, even if it caused her to faint and have a heated argument with Guts later. Casca was also normally level headed when it came to battle except when Griffith (and later Guts) was involved; otherwise, she was courageous in battle and had strong leadership skills. Casca hated the fact she born a woman not only because of the numerous sexual assaults, but because of enemy soldiers who didn't take her seriously on the battlefield and openly mocked her in front of her fellow Hawks. When Guts got angry that she hadn't told anyone she was going though her post menstrual cycle on the battlefield she yelled back at him that it hadn't been her choice. Guts, seeing her frustration, cooled his anger and was always the one to praise and take her fighting skills seriously. Guts often joked that the wrath of the enemies they are facing is nothing compared to Casca's. Casca worshipped Griffith, loving him more dearly than any other member of the Hawks. This was strongly due Griffith saving her from being raped by a noble man and taking her away from her awful homestead. This connection with Griffith became stronger when she approached Griffith after he prostituted himself to Gennon, comforting him slightly and in her mind becoming closer to him. Her loyalty and devotion to Griffith was unwavering but only caused her strife when Guts stumbled across the Band and Griffith stated clearly "that he needed Guts." Casca, eavesdropping on this conversation, was distraught and became ferociously jealous of Guts' relationship with Griffith, wishing that he would have the same trust in her as he does in Guts. Casca was very protective of Griffith, angry at her fellow Hawks whenever Griffith's life was at risk in battle. Casca panicked more than anybody else when he was attacked by Zodd and tearfully shouted at Guts that it was all his fault when Griffith was knocked unconscious (despite it being Griffith's decision to aid Guts against the Apostle.) She also punched Guts - even though he was wounded - when he tried to visit Griffith after the encounter despite Griffith being occupied talking to dignitaries. She even became teary in front of Guts, saying "why do you always have to be this way?" After seeing Griffith flirting with Charlotte, Casca soon began to comprehend that Griffith was "beyond her" and she was only chasing a dream. She came to terms with her relationship with Griffith, deciding she could still serve him, just not as his lover. Later, Casca became fearful when Griffith was captured by the king, but managed draw strength and command the Band of Hawks to safety. Upon finding Griffith tortured, crippled, and lame she was horrified. Still, she had unshakable loyalty in him and couldn't bring herself to leave him. When he forced himself on top of her, which Casca mistook as gesture of helplessness, she did not falter in her devotion to him. Casca kept her loyalty to Griffith right up until the Eclipse when she was terrorized by Griffith (now Femto), witnessed her friends die around her and had her body violated by him. It most likely because of this enormous betrayal from the man she gave her whole life to that Casca was unable to cope and her mind regressed. She was initially very hard on Guts, the only one among the Hawks that Griffith trusted more than her. In fact, they fought when first met each other. Guts was surprised that she was a woman, but was prepared to kill her before Griffith stepped in. Casca was even ordered by Griffith to keep Guts' body warm with her own much to Casca's resentment. From that moment on Casca was constantly bickering and fighting with him. The arguments could get very heated but were always stopped by Griffith. Casca hated the fact the Guts was "closer" to Griffith than she was and detested Guts' reckless behavior on the battlefield. Guts, on his part, hated her singling him out and became furious when she said he doesn't care for his fellow Hawks, and when she blamed him for Griffith's injuries against Zodd. When Guts came back to the Hawks after assassinating Julius and his son Adonis (accidentally) Casca, seeing the trauma Guts had been through, refrained from filling his ear and got him cleaned up. Casca's mindset towards Guts changed during the Midland War when she was attacked by Adon and saved by the swordsman. The two fell of a cliff together; Casca after she fainted and Guts as a result of an arrow wound. Guts resuscitated her and took her to a cave where he stripped her of her armour and kept her warm (like she did for him previously). When Casca awoke she was naturally angry and annoyed that she was indebted to him but told Guts about her life before the Hawks, her relationship with Griffith and the reason why she disliked him. Casca stated to Guts that she didn't care if he died in combat so long as he didn't ruin Griffith's dream to rule. She regretted these words later when Guts protected her from Adon and his one hundred men, discovering Guts had been wounded because of her. Guts simply told her to run, saying he was happy to die swinging his sword and that she should run back her "hero" Griffith. Casca became unwilling to leave his side, Guts being the first man to ever bleed for her in battle, but she complied and ran away leaving Guts to slay all one hundred men himself. On her way back to the Hawks Casca was once again set upon by a few lustful soldiers, but spurred on by Guts' words about fighting she slayed the men and found the Hawks led by Judeau. Casca begged Judeau to help Guts fighting on his own (many of the Hawks assumed he was dead) then ran back to Guts to find him bleeding against a tree. Tearfully, she shook him in a panic. Guts weakly told her to stop shaking his wounds in response, causing Judeau to smile and Casca to become overjoyed. After single handedly killing Adon, overtaking Doldrey castle, getting carried to victory in Guts' arms and celebrating with him at the party (even dancing with him in the movies) Casca became unsure of her feelings. She had began to form strong feelings of affection towards Guts, heightened after Guts told her he could no longer follow in Griffith's shadow and that he was going to leave The Band of the Hawk to follow his own dream. Griffith was completely unwilling to lose Guts and dueled with him. Watching on, Casca was unsure of who she wanted to win. Guts, who had been training hard since their last fight, handed Griffith his first ever defeat. As Guts walked away from the Band, Casca was about to call him back but stopped herself. Afterwards, back in the castle, she went to Guts' empty room. She clutched his broken sword and began to cry. After Griffith is captured by the king, Casca, now forced to lead the Hawks, commanded them to safety following a surprise assault from the Midland army. She was struck with arrows and had to rest for three days. During this time, Judeau overheard her call out Griffith and Guts' names in her sleep. Casca had fallen into depression until Guts returned to save her and the Hawks from Silat. She was shy upon seeing him again but asked him to accompany her to a clearing overlooking the waterfall, where she promptly attacked him. Taken by surprise, Guts was unwilling to hurt her and asked where this anger had come from. Guts even grabbed her sword and held it to his wound, asking why she was doing this. Casca, grappling with her new found feelings for him, yelled at him to let go before he bled to death. Casca explained that Guts leaving the Hawks had caused Griffith's depression and that Griffith "couldn't do anything without him." Guts was apologetic but Casca, "tired" from her responsibilities leading a fractured Band of the Hawk in Griffith's absence, attempted suicide over the falls. Guts grabbed her and pulled up, furious at first, but quickly noticed her now returned feelings to him. He then kissed Casca, which she returned gratefully. Before they made love Casca expressed how lost she felt doing this with Guts. Guts comforted her, telling her to go with her instincts; Casca lost her virginity to him. Halfway though intercourse the experience triggered a flashback for Guts to when he was attacked by Donovan and Gambino, causing him to almost strangle a confused Casca. Guts let go, horrified with himself, and collapsed crying for the first time in long time while he revealed his past to her. Casca forgave him easily and thanked him, saying they had now both shown their "weak spots" to each other, and they slept together once more. Afterwards, Guts told her that after he rescued Griffith he still wanted to follow his own dream of wielding his sword, resulting in Casca getting angry (thinking that Guts hadn't thought of her in his future). However, he then asked her to come with him, saying he wanted to have her more and that he would always protect her, causing Casca to blush. Soon Casca became very doting towards Guts, insisting on sewing up his wounds herself and becoming terrified for his safety in his fight against Wyald, wishing he would just flee some fights instead of always standing his ground. Casca tried to keep him to his promise that he'd "always protect her" and Guts held to the promise dearly, even when he couldn't save her, costing him a forearm and an eye later in the Eclipse . After saving Griffith Casca realized she was pregnant with Guts' child, however she refrained from telling him as she did not want him to worry. She decided to stay with Griffith, apologizing to Guts when the Hawks were planning to make him leader. However, following the Eclipse, from watching her allies get slaughtered to being violated by Griffith and even having her barely formed baby mutated with Griffith's demon seed, the ordeal she suffered destroyed Casca's sanity as she mentally regressed to a child and became unable to speak. She also developed Androphobia (a fear of men) and thus she couldn't stand any man touching her or approaching her, even Guts, causing him much anguish now being unable to touch or love her as he used to. Casca's fear of men died down in the two years she spent at Godo's house "recovering." Now, she will allow other people - even men - to touch her (though she will react violently if any man tries to take advantage of her). Casca is also now easily distracted by shiny objects or creatures (such as Puck) as well as emotional and easily panicked. While normally mild and in her little world, Casca has a strong maternal instinct, first seen with her own child and then later with moonlight boy, whom she cradled in her arms. When the boy climbed on Guts' shoulders, Casca feared for his safety and tried to pull him off of Guts, causing the boy to almost fall on Guts' throwing knifes. Luckily Guts and Casca caught him (huddling together like a family) before Casca pulled the boy way from Guts in anger. The moonlight boy protects Casca as much as she protects him. When Guts was on rampage in the Berserker Armour Casca stumbled out into open upon seeing the boy. Guts (possessed) lumbered towards them but stopped when the boy used his powers to calm Guts, saying he knew that Casca was "not lost." This caused Guts to fight against the Armour and - with help from Schierke - free himself. The moonlight boy stayed with Casca on the boat for a while but disappeared later much to Casca's distress. Casca has also developed a bond with Farnese, delighting in her presence as her caretaker. Due to this bond Guts will seek Farnese out when Casca is not compliant. Casca still shows some signs of intelligence as she shushed Manifico when he was panicking while they were hiding. She'll also understand when she's done something wrong, like when Farnese yelled at Casca for splashing hot water on her (and not understanding Guts' pain). Casca punished herself by pouring hot water on herself until Farnese stopped her. Casca can suffer violent flashbacks to the Eclipse that causes her to have violent fits whenever any man but Guts approaches her. Casca seems only to recognize two men from her past: Guts and Griffith. Her relationship with Guts was initially broken alongside her mind, worsened by the two years of absence without him to help in recovering, and shattered further still after the Beast of Darkness pushed Guts to kiss her while restraining her. However, in the time she has traveled with him, she's begun to trust Guts again as she watches his fights anxiously and will be playful with him like when she was climbing around the ship and Guts wanted her to come down. With Griffith, upon seeing his reincarnated form, she touched his face and fell into his embrace then collapsed crying (likely because her Brand was hurting). She did not seem to recognize Griffith as the man who caused her broken state and betrayed them, and her Brand did not seem to ail her until after Guts' fight with Zodd came to a close. Her familiarity towards him has been implied to be because she feels a connection with him as she did with her child, whom Griffith used to reincarnate, though this has yet to be proven. Abilities Casca is a highly skilled swordswoman. She wields a short broadsword which she can use to kill multiple attackers with relative ease. Casca lacks strength and can be overpowered by raw brute force, but she makes up for it with her agility, her technique involving much jumping around her opponents and finding openings to take advantage of, which is how she was able to kill Adon. Casca is able to keep up with Guts in combat and dodge Silat's attacks, and during the Eclipse she killed a few weaker Apostles before being overwhelmed. After the Eclipse Casca's abilities take a serious decrease and she is needed to be looked after by Guts and Farnese, but the old Casca is not completely gone. Casca has a great deal of her skill left as seen when three scavenges tried to rape her; the attack on her triggered memories of the Eclipse and she killed all three of them instantly, shocking Guts when he found her naked and clutching a sword by the bodies of the men. She was also able to deftly leap down the side of a cliff, instinctively using the rocks as footholds. History Past As a young lowborn girl, Casca considered hardships such as starvation and abduction to be a normal fact of peasant life. But at age twelve, Casca suddenly found herself fighting back against a noble to avoid being raped when Griffith came to her aid and offered her a sword that she used to personally kill the noble. From that moment on, Casca joined the Band of Hawks to become stronger despite still haunted by her past. Golden Age Arc Years later, Casca confronts Guts when he attacks an ambush party led by Corkus and the two battle until Griffith intervenes when she's knocked off her horse with Guts only realizing then he was fighting a woman. Casca is ordered by Griffith to sleep with the almost mortally wounded and unconscious Guts for two days to keep him warm, later punching Guts in the stomach once he comes to. Though Casca kept those among the Hawks from killing Guts after Griffith made him join their company, she showed no respect towards the swordsman. It was later revealed that Casca felt threatened that she was being replaced by Guts as Griffith's most trusted subordinate, made worse when Griffith had romantic desires for the Midland princess Charlotte. But during the last days of the One Hundred Year War, Casca and Guts start to harbor feelings for each other with the former utterly conflicted when the latter leaves the Hawks. This results with Griffith's downward spiral that forces Casca to take leadership of the Hawks when they are labeled outlaws by the King of Midland after he arrested their leader. A year later, still embittered with Guts for causing the chain of events that destroyed Griffith despite coming to help free their ally, she takes him away from the rest of the Hawks to vent her rage on him in a brief swordfight and suicide attempt. But when Guts saves her from taking her life, Casca and the swordsman reconcile and come to acknowledge their relationship as more than comrades. The two proceed to make love that night before they and the others proceed with saving Griffith, only for Casca to attempt to convince Guts to leave her as she resolved to take care of Griffith after they learn he has been damaged and tortured. But when Griffith invoked the Eclipse, Casca watches Pippin and Judeau die protecting her before the Apostles grab her and proceed to strip her of her clothing to have their way with her. But the Apostles are stopped by Griffith after his transcending into the last of the God Hand is complete and, knowing Guts loves her, proceeds to sexually violate the half-conscious Casca in front of him. Following the Eclipse, Guts learns of the damage the event caused on Casca's mind and she gave birth to a fetal creature that was their biological child altered by Griffith's essence. As the elven cave near the blacksmith's house could protect her from the restless spirits and other fell things, Guts decided to leave Casca with Godo as he left to hunt the Apostles and find the God Hand. Conviction Arc Two years after Guts left her in the care of Godo, Casca walked off by chance and ended up in the company of a harlot named Luca whose group are among the refugees to St. Albion. Along the way, the refugees are ambushed by would-be assassins of Mozgus and Casca nearly got herself executed out of interacting with one of them where it not for Luca. Knowing her as "Elaine" and wanting to keep her safe from targeted by men who would take advantage of her vulnerable state, Luca wrapped bandages over Casca to make her appear to be infected with syphilis by the time they reached St. Albion. But only a day after Casca reached the city, her presence causing the restless spirits of the starved to stir, her cover is blown as the cult dedicated to the Goddess of the Flame believes her to be a witch and conducts a ritual to marry her to the Great Goat Head. Casca is saved by Guts, who had a vision of her burned at the stake, but she is taken to the Tower of Conviction where her presence fully awakens the spirits of those who died of torture within its bloodstained walls to form a blood blob that consumes the living. Only Casca survives the blob's engulfing due to the Demon Child using the last of its strength to protect its mother. Believing her death will cease the spirits' attack inside and outside the city, Mozgus attempts to have her burned at the stake before Guts saves her. This act allows the Incarnation Ceremony to run its course and Casca is taken away from the ruins of St. Albion by Guts in the aftermath. Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc Casca has a difficult time reconnecting with Guts. Farnese remains for quite a while the only one in the group who Casca will cooperate with, and she is repeatedly put in danger when monsters attack or she escapes Farnese's watch. Farnese is for quite a while resentful of her and her inability to take care of herself, or to recognize the great love Guts has for her. She is taken prisoner by the trolls in Qliphoth, which leads to the attempt to rescue her and an encounter with one of the God Hand. On the beach before entering Vritannis, she had her first encounter with the "moon child" who she seems to recognize and is determined to protect. She remains in the background for much of the Vritannis incident's chaos, but things begin to pick up again when on Roderick's ship. By now she has begun to let Guts near her, but her childlike mind still causes trouble and she nearly leads both herself and Guts to their deaths. Fantasia Arc Another encounter with the moon child is had on the island where the Sea God lives, during which the potential for her and Guts as mother and father is shown, even as broken as they are. Speculation is made around what exactly the moon child is, with Schierke wondering if it is King Hanafubuku. When landing at Elfhelm it was learned through one of the witches that King Hanafubuku can look into peoples' hearts and restore memory, meaning it is indeed possible to heal Casca. Upon hearing this news Guts smiled more deeply than he has in years, causing Farnese to look on jealously. Trivia *Her name means "shell" in Portuguese, possibly referencing her status as a hollow shell of her former self later on in the story. *Casca is considered by many fans of Berserk to be the most beautiful woman in the series. *Casca's skin tone changes frequently in the anime adaptations. In the manga, she has a creamy brown skin, but in the 90's anime of Berserk, she has a much darker skin tone, while in the 2012 movies her skin is far lighter making her appear white in dark environments. *Casca bears a resemblance and similarities to Shisu, both are women driven insane and doting mothers seen with Shisu and Guts and Casca with the Demon Child (and Moonlight Boy). *Casca (before the Eclipse) resembles Elena from the "Street Fighter" series with her slender brown body and short hair. *in arcade game "Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara" the "Thief" character bears a striking similar appearance to Casca. *There is a twisted irony in the fact that Griffith saved her from losing her virginity to a nobleman (earning her trust and love) only to betray and rape her during the Eclipse. There is more irony considering Casca started off attempting to kill Guts and hated him at the start of the series, only then to fall in love with him and wanting to bear his child. *Casca bears many similarities to her lover Guts, Casca (until after the Eclipse) has short, black hair like Guts, both wield their swords two handed, both of them were betrayed by their parents and sold to a sex offender (Guts to Donovan, Casca to a nobleman). Both Casca and Guts killed the men who sexually assaulted them. Casca is a strong warrior like Guts (though she doesn't enjoy fighting as much as him), both of them have received numerous battle wounds and both of them were cruelly betrayed by Griffith (whom they trusted dearly). Casca and Guts were both given the Brand of Sacrifice and both were deeply affected by the events: Casca being violated and her baby corrupted (causing her to go insane), Guts lost his right eye and left forearm and had sanity decreased too (though not to Casca's level). *Casca was the first female warrior shown in the series. *Disturbingly Casca has had more sexual assaults on her than any other female in the entire series (though Griffith was the only villain who succeeded in raping her). In fact Guts is the only consensual sexual experience she's ever had. *Casca may have a form of trauma-induced dementia as she can't remember anything about her life before the Eclipse. 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